Pollution control system

ABSTRACT

A system for controlling pollutants from the quenching station of a coke oven is provided. The system includes a coke breeze sump that is divided into two zones, a coke breeze settling zone and a clean liquid zone. A first pumping means withdraws a thickened sludge of coke breeze, either continuously or intermittently, from the coke breeze settling zone and a second pumping means flows clean liquid from the clean liquid zone to a spray means. The spray means directs the clean liquid onto hot incandescent coke in a quenching car thereby producing quenched coke and a slurry of coke breeze and of liquid. This slurry drains into the coke breeze settling zone of the sump where the coke breeze settles by gravitational force to form a thickened sludge of coke breeze in the coke breeze settling zone so that clean supernatant liquid collects above the thickened sludge of coke breeze in the clean liquid zone of the sump.

United States Patent 1 Tatterson [451 May 21, 1974 1 1 POLLUTION CONTROLSYSTEM [75] Inventor: Benjamin F. Tatterson, Pittsburgh,

[22] Filed: Jan. 17, 1973 [21] Applv No.: 324,436

3,448,861 6/1969 Berk 210/195 Primary Examiner-lohn Adee Attorney,Agent, or FirmSherman H. Barber; Olin E.

Williams; Oscar B. Brumbach [5 7] ABSTRACT A system for controllingpollutants from the quenching station of a coke oven is provided. Thesystem includes a coke breeze sump that is divided into two zones, acoke breeze settling zone and a clean liquid zone. A first pumping meanswithdraws a thickened sludge of coke breeze, either continuously orintermittently, from the coke breeze settlingzone and a second pumpingmeans flows clean liquid from the clean liquid zone to a spray means.The spray means directs the clean liquid onto hot incandescent coke in aquenching car thereby producing quenched coke and a slurry of cokebreeze and ofliquidl'This slurry drains into the coke breeze settlingzone of the sump where the coke breeze settles by gravitational force toform a thickened sludge of coke breeze in the coke breeze settling zoneso that clean supernatant liquid collects above the thickened sludge ofcoke breeze in the clean liquid zone of the sump.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures abandoned.

[52] U.S. C1 210/152, 210/167, 210/195, 210/197, 210/305, 210/312 [51]Int. Cl B01d 21/00 [58] Field Of Search ..210/152,167,195,196, 210/197,251, 261, 262, 299, 305, 307, 312, 313

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.289.669 7/1942 Maxton210/299 X 2.236.895 4/1941 Court 210/196 X 2.751346 6/1956 Sebalm210/535 X 3.079.286 2/1963 Kearney etz 210/196 X 3.545.618 12/1970 Greg210/167 1 POLLUTION CONTROL SYSTEM CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This application is a continuation (Rule 60) of applicationSer. No. 27,487, filed Apr. 13, 1970, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a system for preventing pollution of the environmentsurrounding a coke making facility when hot, incandescent coke isquenched.

Heretofore, the manufacture of coke has been considered to be aninherently dirty operation which has tended to contribute significantlyto air and water pollution. The coke making industry, realizing itsresponsibility to provide cleaner operating systems, has'providedcleaner systems, such as, for example, improved gas collecting hoods,improved gas cleaning systems, and the like; but, an area of pollutionwhich has not been well handled has been that involved with th quenchingof coke.

One essential operation in the manufacture of coke is the quenching ofhot, incandescent coke to stop the coke from burning after it has beenremoved from an oxygen-poor atmosphere in the coke oven to anoxygen-rich atmosphere of the air. This quenching is best and mosteconomically accomplished by dousing the coke with water. The water,after quenching the hot, incandescent coke, becomes a spent quenchingliquid comprising a slurry containing a liquor of water includingvarious organic chemicals, such as, for example, phenols, cyanides, andof a suspension in the water of coke particles, commonly referred to ascoke breeze.

The problem that has resulted is that there is no practical method ofdisposing of the spent quenching liquid without a consequential severecontamination of our streams. Therefore, coke plants generallyrecirculate the waters used for the quenching until eventually the waterevaporates into the atmosphere.

2. Description of the Prior Art Hence, in conventional quenching, aquenching car containing hot, incandescent coke travels to a quenchingstation where sprays of quenching liquid are directed onto hot,incandescent coke for a predetermined interval of time to quench thecoke. As would be expected the spent quenching liquid, being a slurry,contains large amounts of fine coke, called coke breeze" and other solidmaterials. This spent quenching liquid drains from the quenching car tothe floor of the quenching station and thence, as a slurry, flows to aconventional deep sump below the level of the floor of the quenchingstation. A portion of the coke breeze in the spent quenching liquidsettles by gravity to the bottom of the sump so that the spent quenchingliquid. becomes relatively clean to form a supernatant liquid above thesettled sludge of coke breeze. The time required for this separation isnaturally dependent upon the particle size of the coke breeze. Liquidpumps recirculate the relatively clean supernatant liquid to a storageand surge tank for reuse to quench another quantity of hot, incandescentcoke. When the sump becomes full with the sludge of settled coke breeze,the operation of the quenching sump is discontinued and a clam shellcrane" or the like is used to remove the sludge of settled coke breezetherefrom. The sludge of coke breeze, containing'about 15 percent to 40percent liquid, is usually dumped onto the ground in piles and dried.The contaminated water in the sludge of coke breeze drains from the cokebreeze to the ground and from there into sewers and streams. In thisdried form the coke breeze has various industrial uses, such as, forexample, a sintering fuel. In some instances the sludge of coke breezeis dumped onto the quenching wharf and processed along with the quenchedcoke in a conventional manner.

The difficulties of the existing systems for quenching coke and thehandling of spent quenching liquid are numerous. Heretofore, quenchingsumps have been rectangular in cross-sectional configuration from top tobottom. The spent quenching liquid or slurry has entered the sump at itstop and has been held in the sump for relatively long periods of time sothat the coke breeze may separate by gravity to the bottom of the sump.To compensate for the long periods of time required for adequateseparation, it has been necessary to provide sumps having relativelylarge cross sectional areas and a clear well to receive the supernatantliquid. Nevertheless, only a portion of the coke breeze and other solidshave settled to the bottom of the sump within any given time period.This is especially true when the settling capacity of the sump has beenexceeded or when the sump has been improperly cleaned. When thequenching liquid was then recirculated to the quenching storage andsurge tank, unsettled coke breeze remaining in the quenching liquid hasabraded the pumping equipment causing premature failure of thatequipment.

Moreover, as coke breeze accumulated in the sump, the efficiency inseparating coke breeze from spent quenching liquid has necessarilydecreased. Eventually, the entire operation has had to be temporarilysuspended so that the accumulated cokebreeze and other solids or sludgecould be withdrawn by conventional means from the bottom of the sump.

'Another feature of the prior systems is that to avoid the carry over ofbreeze to the quenching pumps it has been necessary to have a pluralityof settling sumps and baffles in association with the quenchingstations.

Hence, the toll exacted for providing clean water for coke manufacturingoperations has been a heavy one. For example, in wet coke quenchingunsettled coke breeze remaining in the supernatant liquid has abradedthe liquid pumping equipment causing premature failure of the equipment.The numerous quenching sumps has been expensive in capital investment,in'maintenance, and in operational efficiency, thus emphasizing the needfor an improved system that is not costly yet achievesdesirablepollution control.

The pollution control system of this invention re quires less capitalinvestment; is easier to maintain; and, has a much improved operationalefficiency than known systems. The system of this invention extends theoperating life of currently used pumping equipment much beyond that ofprior systems and provides a much higher efficiency in the separation ofthe coke breeze from the spent quenching liquid than heretofore known.The time for separating coke breeze from spent quenching liquid issubstantially reducedin this invention. It is no longer necessary to usemen, trucks, cranes and the like to remove accumulated coke breeze fromthe sump nor is it necessary to provide several sumps SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION In accordance with the invention a pollution control systemfor use at the quenching station of a coke oven battery wherein hot,incandescent coke in a car is quenched with water to produce quenchedcoke and a slurry of coke breeze and of water is provided. The systemincludes a sump for receiving the slurry of coke breeze and of waterwhich sump is divided into two zones, a coke breeze settling zone and aclean liquid zone. The coke breeze settling zone in the preferredembodiment of the invention is adjacent to but at a lower elevation thanthe clean liquid zone. In another embodiment the coke breeze settlingzone is laterally adjacent to the clean liquid zone.

A means is provided for directing the slurry of coke breeze and of waterinto the coke breeze settling zone so that coke breeze separates bygravitational force from the water of the slurry to form a thickenedsludge of coke breeze in the coke breeze settling zone. The water formsa supernatant liquid above the thickened sludge of coke'breeze in theclean liquid zone.

A first pumping means withdraws periodically or continuously thethickened sludge of coke breeze from the coke breeze settling zone and asecond pumping means flows the supernatant liquid from the clean liquidzone to a sprayer means. The sprayer means directs the supernatantliquid onto a car containing a new quantity of hot, incandescent coke.

In accordance with the invention, the sump has a continuous liquidretaining surface comprised of an upper portion and a lower portion. Thelower portion slopes downwardly and converges inwardly of the sump toterminate at a terminus for providing a confined volume in which thecoke breeze settles by gravity.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of the pollutioncontrol system of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the pollution control system of FIG.1; v 1

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view illustrating another embodiment of thesump of the pollution control system of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is aside elevation view illustrating another embodiment of thesump of the pollution control system of the invention. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1 and 2 show a quenching car 11 in aquenching station generally indicated at 13. The quenching station 13includes a quenching hood 15 having asso ciated therewith a quenchingstorage and surge tank 17. In accordance with the invention, thequenching station includes a quenching sump 21 that has two zones,denoted as A and B. The zone B has a first pumping means25 and the zoneA has a second pumping means 23.

The quenching car 11 is conventional. Such a car has a sloping floor orapron therein (not shown) on which hot, incandescent coke 29 lies in auniform layer. The car 11 travels over rails 31 into thequenchingstation 13 from a coke oven battery (not shown) from which hot,incandescent coke has been discharged into the quenching car 11.

The quenching hood 15 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is conventional andrests on a concrete foundation 33. The purpose of the quenching hood isto prevent air pollution when hot, incandescent coke is quenched. Gascollecting equipment (not shown) cleans and removes dust particles thatare produced when the hot, incandescent coke is quenched with water.

A concrete floor 35 conventionally slopes along the length of the rail31 (as illustrated herein from the left to the right of FIG. 2) and fromboth sides of the quenching hood 15 thereof to form a trough or funnelfor channeling spent quenching liquid into a spent quenching liquidoutlet 37.

In accordance with the invention, the quenching sump 21, as illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2, is a receptacle having at the top a rectangular crosssectional configuration that, as the sump 21 is viewed in a verticalrelationship, becomes a generally truncated, inverted pyramid and thatterminates at the bottom in a smaller rectangular cross sectionalconfiguration. The sump 21 is -situated below the rails 31 over whichthe quenching car 1 1 travels and is disposed adjacent to the quenchinghood 15 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

1 To provide for this configuration of the top, the quenching sump 21has opposite end walls 51a and 51b and opposite sidewalls 53a and 53bthat are joined to define a upper portion of a continuous liquidretaining surface. Forming a lower portion of-the continuous liquidretaining surface of different cross sectional dimensions, each of theopposite end walls 51a and 51b of FIG. 2 have depending therefrom lowerdownwardly sloping surface portions 55a and 55b that converge inwardlyof the sump 21 and, each of the side walls 53a and 53b have dependingtherefrom lower downwardly sloping surface portions 57a and 57b thatalso converge inwardly of the sump 21. As illustrated herein, thesloping portions 55a, 55b, 57a, and 57b are joined by a bottom surface59. Thelower sloping portions define a confined volume in the sump 21 inwhich the separation of coke breeze takes place. Restricting the volumein which separation of coke breeze occurs improves the efficiency ofcoke breeze separation and reduces the time required for efficientseparation of coke breeze from the slurry of coke breeze and of water.

In accordance with the invention, sump 21 in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes aflume 49 which isa simple conduct that extends from the top of sump 21to a location near the bottom 59 of sump 21. Flume 49 has a barscreen 61or the like for preventing large solid particles from entering the sump21. The screen 61 may be of any size as desired, but it is preferred tohave a screen size such that solids having a diameter larger than twoinches are retained on the screen and solids having a diameter less thantwo inches pass through the screen. The flume 49 is connected with thequenching liquid outlet 37 and is arranged so thatspent quenching liquidis discharged at the bottom surface 59 of the sump 21. This arrange menthas the advantages of preventing the bridging of coke breeze and solidsaround the first pumping means 23 during periods of inoperation and,moreover, of aiding the settling of the coke breeze and solids as theyhave less distance to travelin settling to the bottom surface 59 of thesump 21.

It should be noted that in FIG. 2 sump 21 has two zones, a coke breezesettling zone, identified as A, and a clean quenching liquid zone,identified as B. Upon the quenching of a quantity of hot, incandescentcoke a slurry of coke breeze and of water is formed, which slurry flowsthrough outlet 37 into flume 49 to the bottom of sump 21. As the cokebreeze in the slurry settles a sludge of coke breeze is formed in zoneA, the coke breeze settling zone, whereby the liquid is renderedrelatively clean to form a supernatant liquid above the sludge of cokebreeze in zone B, the clean quenching liquid zone.

The sludge of coke breeze is removed from zone A by a first pumpingmeans 23 in FIGS. 1 and 2. This means 23 may be a conventional sludgepump that is capable of continuously withdrawing solid materials in theform of sludge from the bottom of the sump 21. The pump 23 removes thecoke breeze and other solids continuously or intermittently so thatlittle or no accumulation of breeze and other solids occurs in andaround the breeze removal pump 23 at its bottom.

The first pumping means 23 in FIG. 2 includes a motor 63 situated onplatform 64 that has a drive shaft 65 which extends to drive an impeller71. A housing 69 is connected to the shell of motor 63 and enclosesdrive shaft 65 to protect it from corrosion and the like. Near thebottom of housing 69 is a suction bell 67 within which impeller 71rotates to pump the sludge of coke breeze through discharge conduit 73that extends from a side of the suction bell 67. By rotating theimpeller 71 at a high velocity a vacuum is created in the suction bell67 causing the sludge of coke breeze and other solids to pass from thebottom of the sump 21 through the suction bell 67 into discharge conduit73 and through a conduit 75 to a breeze collecting tank 77.

Breeze collecting tank 77 has a plurality of apertures 79 through whichexcess water of the recirculated sludge of coke breeze may pass butthrough which the coke breeze and other solids do not pass.Alternatively, the breeze collecting tank 77 may use screens or the likefor the separation of any water from the sludge of coke breeze.Quenching liquid or water is thereby conveniently separated from thesludge in the breeze collecting tank 77.

The breeze collecting tank 77 has an operable gate 81, FIG. 1, or adumping means, which may be opened to discharge the collected cokebreeze and other solids from the breeze collecting tank 77 to the cokequenching car or to a suitable conveying device or the like (not shown).Breeze collecting tank 77 is therefore discharged periodically toreceive more coke breeze and other solids from the sump 21. Connectedwith the breeze collecting tank 77 is a quenching liquid conduit 83 thatdrains the excess water from the breeze tank 77 into flume 49.

By opening valve 75a and closing valve 73a in conduit 73 the sludge ofbreeze and other solids that are pumped by pumping means 23 flow intocoke breeze collecting tank 77 and are deposited therein. Dischargeconduit 73 also leads to coke breeze discharge headers 85 which emptyinto quenching car 11. Hence, by closing valve a and opening valve 73acoke breeze and solids may pass into coke breeze discharge header andonto the quenching car 11 containing quenched coke, if desired. Thisfeature may be desirable when breeze collecting tank 77 is beingdischarged; hence,

the operation of the system of this invention never need bediscontinued.

The supernatant, relatively clean liquid is to be handled by a secondpumping means 25 which includes a motor 87 on platform 64, a suctionline 89, a suction bell 91, and a discharge conduit 93 which empties thewater into quenching tank 17. The tank 17 is optional and by-passconduit 94 may alternatively be used to divert the liquid from tank 17directly to spray header 45. In operation, when the motor 87 of thesecond pumping means 25 is actuated clean quenching liquid or waterpasses through suction line 89 into conduit 93 and is discharged intothe quenching storage and surge tank 17.

The quenching storage or surge tank 17 may be equipped with pressure orfloat devices that automatically cut off the second pumping means 25when a predetermined level is obtained in the tank 17 and automaticallyturns the pump on-when the liquid in the tank falls below thepredetermined level. A quenching liquid conduit 39 with a valve 43 leadsinto the spray header 45 having a plurality of sprays 47 that aredirectly over the quenching car 11.

The storage and surge tank 17 has a breeze removal conduit 101 withvalve 103 which leads into coke breeze discharge header 85. Thisoptional feature is used when coke breeze and other solids for somereason should collect in the bottom of the quenching storage or surgetank 17. By opening the breeze removal valve 103, coke breeze and solidspass into the coke breeze discharge conduit 73 onto the quenched cokecontained in the quenching car 11.

In operation, clean liquid flows from the quenching liquid storage orsurge tank 17 through conduits 39, and quenching valve 43, and,thereafter, through a quenching liquid distributor 45 where the liquidis distributed through a plurality of sprays 47 onto the hotincandescent coke 29 in the quenching car 11. The quenching valve 43 isconventionally opened for a predetermined time during a quenching periodand closed during a non-quenching period when the quenching car 11 isremoved from under the quenching hood 15 and,

replaced with a new quenching car (not shown), if desired. The quenchingvalve 43 may be actuated by any conventional means, such as, forexample, hand, electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic means.

Spent quenching liquid comprising a slurry of cok breeze and of liquidfiows from the quenching car 11 to the floor 35 of the quenching'hood 15to the quenching liquid outlet 41 and thence into quenching liquid flume49. The spent quenching liquid or the slurry enters sump 21 at thebottom thereof wherein coke breeze and other solids settle by gravity tothe bottom 59 of the sump 21 to form a sludge. As desired, pump 23 isoperated continuously or intermittently to withdraw the sludge from thebottom of the sump 21 to either the breeze collecting tank 77 or tobreeze header 85. Pump 25 withdraws supernatant liquid from sump 21 toquenching storage and surge tank 17 to be used in quenching a newquantity of hot, incandescent coke.

In FIG. 3, another embodiment of quenching sump 21 is illustrated whichhas the same general cross sectional configuration as that of FIGS. 1and 2 except that the lower downwardly sloping surface portions 55a,55b, 57a, and 57b meet at a point. Sump 21 of FIG. 3 has a dividing wall105 extending from the top of sump 21 to adjacent the downwardly slopingsurface portions 105 and extending across the cross section of the sump21. Thus, in the sump 21 of FIG. 3 the coke breeze settling zone; A, islaterally adjacent to the clean liquid zone B, both of which communicatewith each other at the bottom of the sump 21. The first pumping means 23in the coke breeze settling zone, A, similarly removes the sludge ofcoke breeze therefrom. The second pumping means 25 in the clean liquidzone B similarly withdraws clean liquid therefrom. The water returnconduit 83 from the coke breeze collecting tank in FIG. 3 is disposedtowards one side of the sump 21 and comprises a simple trough to catchexcess liquid from the breeze collecting tank 77.

In operation, spent quenching liquid comprising a slurry of coke breezeand water enters sump 21 of FIG. 3 at the top thereof. Coke breeze andother solids settle by gravity to the bottom of the sump to be withdrawnby pumping means 23. Clean liquid accumulates in zone B, and iswithdrawn by pumping means 25.

In FIG. 4, another embodiment of quenching sump 21 is illustrated. Thegeneral cross sectional configuration is similar to that of theembodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2 of this invention. The sump 21 of FIG. 4has lower sloping downwardly surface portions 55a, 55b, 57a, and 57bsimilar to those same portions of FIGS. 1

' and 2, which portions terminate at a bottom surface 59.

Sump 21 of FIG. 4 has two zones where the upper zone, B is the cleanquenching liquid region and where the lower zone A, is the coke breezesettling region. The sump includes a dividing wall 105 that extends fromthe top of sump 21 to adjacent the downward sloping wall portions andextends across the cross section of sump 21 of FIG. 4 to channel spentquenching liquid that enters the sump 21 at the top thereof to thebottom of the sump 21.

A first pumping means 23 in zone A includes a motor 63 and itsassociated parts of a driving shaft (not shown) and an impeller (notshown). A housing 69 surrounds the impeller and is connected to suctionconduit 67 and discharge conduit 73. The motor 63 and its as sociatedparts are situated to the side of sump 21 of FIG. 4. Such an arrangementis referred to as a horizontal pump as contrasted to the vertical pumpin the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. The suction conduit 67 extends intothe coke breeze settling region A of sump 21 and leads from the bottomof the sump 21 to the housing 69 of pump 23. In operation, when motor 63is actuated sludge at the bottom of the sump is withdrawn throughconduit 67 into housing 69 and thence into discharge conduit 73.

The second pumping means (not shown) in zone B is also a horizontal pumpthat recirculates clean quenching liquid to the quenching liquid storageand surge tank. Suction conduit 89 extends into zone B horizontally,passing through side 51b of sump 21. The operation of the second pumpingmeans, is similar to the same second pumping means in the embodiment ofFIGS. 1 and 2.

It should be noted that the embodiments of my invention illustrated inthe drawings show sumps 21 that have generally rectangularcross-sectional configurations. Yet, other cross-sectionalconfigurations may be used in accordance with the invention such as, forexample, a circular cross-sectional configuration. Thus, the upperportion of the continuous liquid retaining surface would comprise acylindrical surface and the lower portion of the continuous liquidretaining surface would comprise an inverted frusto-conical surface.

Thus the pollution control system of this invention quite surprisinglycontrols pollution without the disadvantages of the prior art systems.Coke breeze and other solids are more efiiciently separated from spentquenching liquid than heretofore known. The system may be operatedautomatically, thus requiring less personnel and less supervision tomaintain its efficiency. The system may be operated continuously withoutinterruption thereby avoiding the use of contaminated water when thesump is shut down for cleaning.

The time required for the settling of coke breeze from the spentquenching liquid is substantially reduced by virtue of the design of thequenching sump of the invention. The size of the quenching sump is nowsmaller as compared with the sumps of the prior art; hence, a capitalcost savings is realizable. Also, only one quenching sump need beconstructed in association with a quenching station.

Because the pumping means and their motors are situated above or besidethe quenching sump they may easily be inspected and maintained. Thequenching sump of my pollution control system may have a permanentcovering placed over its top and thus the sump may be placed belowground level without posing any danger to workman who might fall intoquenching sumps.

The sludge of coke breeze is periodically discharged on the cokequenching car or periodically or continuously collected in the breezecollecting tank and thus confined. The collected coke breeze may bedrained and discharged on the coke wharf and further processed alongwith the quenched coke, if desired. The coke breeze may then be used forits intended industrial uses.

Because the efficiency of separating coke breeze and the like from spentquenching liquid is improved the problems of periodic replacement ofvarious valves and moving parts of the system is substantially reduced.Thus the operating life and efficiency of the moving parts of my systemis thereby extended and improved. Consequently my pollution controlsystem represents substantial maintenance and capital cost savings.

Hence the combination of all of these favorable factors represents tothe coke making industry an advancement in the art of controllingpollution without heavy outlays of money as compared to the expense ofthe prior art systems. The system of my invention is so much moreefficient than prior art systems, and the costs of maintenance aresubstantially reduced with my invention.

I claim:

1. In a system wherein coke breeze is recovered from a quenchingstation, the improvement in. said system comprising:

a. sump-type receptacle for receiving and holding liquid containing cokebreeze, said receptacle includmg:

i. first walls defining an upper portion that merge into convergingsecond walls of a lower settling zoneportion with the smaller end ofsaid second walls being connected to ii. a bottom, with iii. third wallsdisposed adjacent said first and said second walls and forming thereby aflume that terminates adjacent said bottom;

b. a channel communicating with said flume for carrying said liquidthereinto;

c. a first pumping means having a suction in said settling zone portionadjacent said bottom for picking up and conveying said liquid to d. asecond receptacle wherein there are perforations whereby said cokebreeze is retained therein, but said liquid passes through saidperforations;

e. conduit means for conveying said liquid from sai receptacle to saidflume; f. second pumping means having a suction in the upper portion ofsaid sump-type receptacle for removing clear liquid therefrom; and

c. conduit means for conducting said clear liquid from said thirdreceptacle to said apparatus for quenching coke.

3. The invention of claim 2 including:

a. conduit and flow control means connected to said third receptacle forconveying coke breeze therefrom.

1. In a system wherein coke breeze is recovered from a quenchingstation, the improvement in said system comprising: a. sump-typereceptacle for receiving and holding liquid containing coke breeze, saidreceptacle including: i. first walls defining an upper portion thatmerge into converging second walls of a lower settling zone portion withthe smaller end of said second walls being connected to ii. a bottom,with iii. third walls disposed adjacent said first and said second wallsand forming thereby a flume that terminates adjacent said bottom; b. achannel communicating with said flume for carrying said liquidthereinto; c. a first pumping means having a suction in said settlingzone portion adjacent said bottom for picking up and conveying saidliquid to d. a second receptacle wherein there are perforations wherebysaid coke breeze is retained therein, but said liquid passes throughsaid perforations; e. conduit means for conveying said liquid from saidreceptacle to said flume; f. second pumping means having a suction inthe upper portion of said sump-type receptacle for removing clear liquidtherefrom; and g. conduit means conducting said liquid to apparatus forquenching coke at said station.
 2. The invention of claim 1 including:a. a third receptacle adapted to receive and hold liquid; b. means forconducting said clear liquid from said sump-type receptacle to saidthird receptacle; and c. conduit means for conducting said clear liquidfrom said third receptacle to said apparatus for quenching coke.
 3. Theinvention of claim 2 including: a. conduit and flow control meansconnected to said third receptacle for conveying coke breeze therefrom.